3D bell

This little project was a totally spur of the moment thing. I had two shuttles wound with white thread and I was flipping through Rebecca Jones' book The Complete Book of Tatting. The bell caught my eye and I decided to make it. The beads were also a last minute addition. In fact, the last two rounds of chains are made in one pass. I hadn't planned on adding beads when I started the first round of chains and in order to add the beads, I had to unwind the thread from the shuttle, add the beads, wind the thread back onto the shuttle and continue. I *really* did not want to cut off and worry about more ends to hide!

All in al this was a pleasant, quick project to make. I might have to make more of the 3D tatting designs - they have never interested me before. It all started with the baby slippers I made for my nephew. It was really neat watching them take shape before my eyes. Much different than when working on a flat piece.

Before I finished the bell it looked more like a hat! Somehow the last two rounds made it more bell-like rather than hat-like, but I still joked that it was my Christmas Sombrero. I think without my huge lacey picots it would look more like a bell.

I finished the bell on Christmas Eve and gave it to my friend. She immediately put it up on her tree.

The bell itself was fairly stiff (I tat very tightly), but since I was giving it away I stiffened it. If I had kept it for myself I wouldn't have bothered. The only floppiness was due to the large picots.

Tatted with DMC special dentelles 80 in white with some random gold seed beads I had lying around. I think I might have gotten them at Michael's, but I'm really not sure.

Knotted lace ... continued...

Yet another motif in my series of knotted lace motifs. I guess my tension is slowly getting better. Practice, practice, practice!

This little guy is made with DMC Cebelia 30 in ecru and measures 2 inches on the side.

I say this every year (and for every holiday!), but I can't believe the end of the year is almost here. Hope everyone that celebrates Christmas has a nice holiday.

spinning wheel

I've joined the club - it seems like I'm the last person to make Konior's "Spinning Wheel"! I had admired the pattern ever since I bought the book (quite a few years ago now). Then when I started seeing all the beautiful spinning wheels pop up on other's blogs, I remembered that it was on my list of things to do. I finally decided to make it using one of the first batches of my HDT. It was supposed to be a solid lilac color, but it didn't quite turn out that way! I actually like the mottled variations, although the almost-white is a bit jarring. I don't think I could repeat the effect though, now that I more of an idea of what I am doing. Oh well.

I really like the finished pattern, but making it was not quite so much fun. It is easy to make a mistake and I had to cut out a repeat at one point. It's just mindless enough that my thoughts start to wander, but not so mindless that I can afford to do so.

I forgot to scan with a gauge (again!) - the motif was made with hand-dyed DMC special dentelles 80 and is just over 3" in diameter.

onion medallion

This little guy happens to be the very first thing I ever designed. Ha, ha, ha. With such a simple design, I can't even say that with a straight face. I really don't think I can take any credit for a medallion made of 6 rings connected by 6 chains. Even if they *are* my very favorite onion rings. Actually, I started this little guy at the beginning of my onion ring odyssey. The rings are all made with actual rings. If I were to make it again, I would use chains for the outer two "rings". Either that, or I would have to play with the stitch count to get the rings to lay flay. Nah, too much work:)

Made with DMC Special Dentelles 80 in Christmas red and ecru. I forgot to scan with a gauge again! The medallion is just under 2 inches wide.

Hope nobody gets snowed in tomorrow!

Back to Needle Lace

Needle lace - another thing I've been slacking on. Not really, but it sure seems that way.

This cute little guy was designed by Elizabeth Ligeti and was published in the Fall 2008 IOLI bulletin. I think the design is lovely and I definitely didn't do it justice. Next time!

I decided to be lazy and not do frame with decorative scallops. I had actually copied the scalloped pattern for the frame, but when I wanted to place it on the pattern, it was too small. I didn't feel like enlarging it to fit... I also didn't make the decorative picots on the outer circle.

The only problem I had was with the corners. I wasn't sure how to do them and kind of muddled through them. The biggest mistake was not doing the smaller overcast bars between the outer circle and the frame while working the circle. I completely overlooked them and had to do them while working the frame. That didn't work out too well... Note to self: pay attention to all lines!

Overall it was a fun piece of reticella to make. I used DMC special cordonnet 80 in ecru. The pattern calls for 100, but I didn't have any on hand and had to go with the slightly thicker thread.

Back to Honiton

It seems like I've been slacking with my bobbin lace since I haven't posted anything in a looong time. I've been kind of busy working on this little guy. I say kind of, because I was never crazy about the pattern and that sometimes made it harder to sit down at my pillow and work on it.

This is pattern no. 2 from Introduction to Honiton Lace by Susanne Thompson. I should start scanning these things with some sort of gauge for size. The little guy is just over 2 in wide at it's widest point. As I said, I was not crazy about the pattern and for a while even considered skipping it. However, since it introduces several new elements, I decided to go ahead and do it anyways. Now that it's done, I like it more than I thought I would, but definitely don't see myself doing it again. If nothing else, I learned that purl edges are fun to make!

Working with the tiny honiton thread is becoming much easier. That's good, considering I'm still using thick thread by honiton standards! Sewings are getting much easier to do as well - without a crochet hook that is. Now I am almost as quick with doing sewings with a pin as I am with a crochet hook. Still can't get the hang of using a needle pin for some reason.

I know the overall execution is kind of wonky. The four- and five-pin buds need some help. I lost my threads in one of the half stitch areas as well - don't know what was up with that! The fillings were actually easier to do than I had expected - not that they are good by any stretch of the imagination! The scan doesn't show it too well, but the four-pin filling is quite loose. I think I was so preoccupied with the forest of pins that I forgot about tension. Well that, and I am still afraid to tug too much. The pairs from the fillings are all supposed to sewn in using top sewings. Although I was initially apprehensive about them, it turns out they they are often easier, especially when you start running out of space. I didn't use any top sewings in the first filling I did (four-pin), but by the time I got to the two areas of trolley net, I tried them and realized they are easy. I had done top sewings before using a crochet hook but was scaredto try them with a pin. Most of the pairs in the two trolley net areas are sewn in using top sewings. And as I said, purl edges are fun to make. So much so, that I made 1 purl edge when I shouldn't have. Oops. I realized it a few pins after I did it and decided not to retro lace.

Now it's on to the next pattern! As soon as I prepare the pricking...

Hope everyone is staying warm! We got more snow than they called for, but luckily didn't get the ice they were calling for. I also forgot about the "joy" of having to shovel out the driveway before I can park. I'm a bit stiff today...

Motif No. 22

Almost done with the challenge! It looks I will not finish in 1 year, but that's OK too. Finishing this little guy up last night was very fitting since we got our first dusting of snow for the year.

Motif No. 22 is the 12th day of Christmas from 24 Snowflakes in Tatting (Lene Bjorn). Judging by the other blogs, it seems to be a popular choice of snowflake patterns these days! I ended up liking this pattern a lot more than I thought I would. I was almost dreading making it, because the photo did not speak to me at all. At times like this, I am happy that I am just working my way through the book instead of randomly picking and choosing. Occasionally I get pleasantly surprised. The other pleasant surprise was the thread. It's one strand of a DMC metallic floss. When I first split the skein I wasn't too crazy about the color - it looked dull to me. Once I started working, I grew to really like it. It still seems a bit dull when I look at it by daylight, but when I look at it at night it really sparkles nicely.

The fall cleanup/yardwork is finally done. The only reason I say finally is that I'm not sure how much longer our town will continue to pick up leaves. I'll miss the raking though - until spring, that is, when it's time for spring clean up:) I just hope we won't have much snow to shovel this year. As much as I love raking (and mowing to a slightly lesser extent), I am not too crazy about shoveling snow. Mainly because I cannot do it on my own schedule! My biggest fear is having to shovel out the driveway before I go to work in the morning. With raking, I know that no matter how many leaves there are in the yard, they can happily wait until the weekend. Not so with snow.

Onion rings - Pt. 4

OK, looks like I liked in this post. This is another permutation on onion rings. This one is most likely the last one though! Of the 4 I've done, this is my favorite one - kind of makes me wish I worked in different colors more often!

I definitely think that doing the outer two layers of the onion rings with chains looks much nicer than doing three layers of rings.

Worked with DMC special dentelles no. 80 in Christmas green and white.